In Between the Lines
by SeraphOmega
Summary: Sometimes, a tale is easily understood. Other times, not so much. In the middle of the conflict between man and Aragami, one hero is forced along a path none have walked before; the path many turn their heads away from, unwilling to gaze into the shadows. This is Kinaia Tsumi's unspoken tale - cast into the abyss of her mind. [Branch off from "Tales of Two"]
1. Eclipse of the Moon

I thought this would be interesting to write down. However, I don't think it belongs as a chapter in the main story, so here is where it shall go.

This segment originates from the chapter "Crossed Paths, Divided Tales" from Tales of Two.

Enjoy~

* * *

Kinaia rushed into the church, really not feeling like listening to Arashi warn her yet again about the insanity. _He always makes it a point to focus on my mental moments, and not the fact that I can handle myself every other time_, she thought angrily to herself.

This mission has been odd from the start, disregarding Arashi's over protectiveness . . .

An hour ago, Kinaia was laying down, about to sleep off her enormous headache. The director of the branch, Schicksal, had specifically called her, Sera, and Arashi down to his office over the intercom_. Odd,_ she had thought before the briefing.

He had told the three of them to search the City of Mercy for the unknown Aragami, which was designated "Aragami X" until a proper name was created.

Sera and Arashi protested, saying they were scheduled to take shifts in the Defense Unit. Sera also pointed out "the Aragami had been sighted near the Den, so why would Fenrir order us to search an unrelated town?"

Schicksal smoothly told her that the information was misread, but the Defense force was staying mobilized regardless. He told the trio that this was a top-priority mission, and someone else would be designated to the task force if they couldn't handle it.

Kinaia, being as stubborn as she was, immediately spoke for all three of them, saying "We can handle this. We're not about to push an unwanted job off to someone else."

Seems like that was exactly what Schicksal wanted as a result, because minutes later they were sent away to prepare. However, both Sera and Arashi were peeved at her for deciding for the group without giving them a chance to discuss it.

"We don't even know how strong this thing is, how can we properly prepare?" Arashi had been yelling, worried about his teammates as well as himself.

"If you want to have someone else run the risk of getting hurt when we can prevent it," Kinaia told him, voice as cold as a glacier, while checking her self-named Niagara Booster, "then by all means, leave the task force. I'm still going, whether I have a team behind me or not."

She should've known better. Should have thought it out, should have listened to her two teammates. They were more experienced, after all, and maybe could've helped her.

_No, they wouldn't have tried to help. They would've tried to cancel the mission. I couldn't let that happen, not when someone else would have to pick up the slack._

The trio had been heading straight to the downtown area, having seen evidence of a fight between it and a Vajra earlier. Blood, fur, and pieces of the cape and leg guards were visible here and there, torn and ravaged.

Curiously, there were also crystals growing on the ground. Kinaia pointed them out, and asked if they should scavenge them. Maybe they were a new type of ore?

Sera was considering it, but Arashi vehemently rejected every suggestion, insisting they follow the trail of luminescent crystals.

The trail led straight to the church, and as they rounded the corner of the building they saw Sakuya, Soma, Alisa, Kota, Lindow, and Kama all together, their weapons at the ready as they cautiously advanced.

When they got closer, Kama asked "9 Gods Eaters for a single mission? Seems a bit overkill, doesn't it?" Kinaia, realizing why there were marks of a fight with a Vajra, questioned "You fought the Vajra? We were sent here to search for the unknown Aragami sighted earlier today. You know, the scorpion one?"

When Kama nodded, Lindow announced "Since we're all here, we'd better stick together. Kama, Alisa, Kinaia, you're with me. Everyone else, stay outside and watch our backs." Kinaia thought that made sense, and then Arashi announced "Wait," which made everyone stop.

Arashi looked directly at her as he said to the group "Be careful in there. All of you." At that point she was beyond pissed that he was attempting to point attention to her. She stomped into the church, irately yelling back at the group "Are we going in, or not?"

She had rounded the corner of the church, not looking where she was going nor paying attention to her surroundings. All of a sudden, she looked up when she heard the floor crack, like something heavy had landed on it.

She saw the scorpion not even five feet ahead of her, and they both stared at one another for one short, surreal moment. Neither being made a move for a very short second, but Kinaia's mind started moving when Aragami X pulled its giant claw back to thrust forward.

Her call to alert the others turned into a scream of excruciating pain as it clamped the razor-sharp claws of its pincers around her torso and weapon arm, crushing and making her scream louder.

She twisted violently, trying to get loose, but stopped moving when she saw the edge of the pincer claw crack the casing of her armlet.

At that point, Kama appeared and yelled her name, fearing the worst. The scorpion suddenly clenched its claw tightly, piercing Kinaia's skin as well as completely ripping part of the armlet away from her arm.

It threw her body at the wall, her new wounds blazing with pain as she slid across the floor and slammed against the wall.

She felt her weapon arm burning like it was submerged into lava, and she looked to see the damaged armlet letting off black smoke, reddish crystals spreading around the armlet onto her skin.

She gripped it, hoping to slow it down, but she also saw the black vines that she noticed during her aptitude test spreading through her arm, her veins . . .

_Oh god, it hurts so much, makeitstoppleasethepain-_ her mind was rampant with panic and pain, having been warned enough times about what happens when your armlet is damaged.

_**Calm yourself, my host.**_

Kinaia glanced around, hearing a growling feminine voice come from nowhere. As she looked around, she spotted Kama peeking around the corner, his eyes glazed with fear for her.

She also noticed Lindow attempting to cut into the scorpion, to no avail. His blade made several dozen sparks as it skid across the carapace of the Aragami.

_**We call it Akura Vashimu, child.**_

The voice was growling, yet also quiet, like it was trying not to scare her. Fat chance of that, though; her arm was already turning black, the dark smoke swirling around the broken armlet.

She saw Kama crouch, like he was going to run for her, and she yelled "No! No, you idiot! Go! Run away, before it's too late!"

She saw the moment his eyes registered her arm, and he tried to reason with her, prevent them both from accepting the obvious. "No! We can help! Please, just let me-" he started to plead, his voice cracking.

The pain in her arm was intensifying somehow, now feeling like it was being bathed in acid, and she interrupted his desperate words by screaming "Don't come in here! Run, get away you retard! Get out of here-!"

Her words cut off as the armlet exploded, pieces skittering across the floor. Dark red crystals rapidly spread along her arm, covering her hand and reaching her shoulder.

She couldn't talk anymore, all of her breath devoted to a piercing scream. _Please, just END THIS AGONY!_

_**Are so eager to decline true power? True freedom?**_

The voice was the only thing Kinaia could hear, her mind blacking out from the excruciating pain now spreading throughout her chest and head.

She focused on the voice, clutching it like a lifeline as it continued calmly, clearly.

_**Allow me to aid you, host. I cannot allow your mind to shatter before you learn the truth.**_

The voice uttered as the last pieces of Kinaia's consciousness faded. She felt her mind subsiding, plunging into a dark abyss of nothingness.

_Is this . . . death?_ she thought, unable to move her body, yet somehow seeing what was happening through a periscope form of her eyesight.

_**No, my host, this is ascension.**_

The voice, changing to a purr, said once more as Kinaia surrendered to the pressure pulling her into the abyss, losing her sight and falling, falling . . . falling . . .

* * *

The Infection, called Nightshade by her kind, mentally sighed as her host finally lost consciousness.

She raised her host's arm - now hers, in a way - straight out, the fingers already infected and as sharp as a blade.

The large scorpion creature known as Akura Vashimu sensed the change; sensed Nightshade emerging from Kinaia, and screeched in terror before hopping on its small legs over the gap left in the wall.

_Once an insect, always an insect. It cannot defeat a true prowler._ She thought in disgust as it fled.

She scented several meat-eaters nearby, as well as several humans. In fact, one was near her now. As she gazed directly at the small human, it backed away from Nightshade, instinctively knowing which of them was superior.

Nightshade left the puny being alone, focusing on two of the meat-eaters she scented. They had hopped through the wall, daring to bare their fangs at her.

_I shall make these lesser creatures pay for their disrespect, and I shall feast on their flesh until there is naught but bones!_

Nightshade lunged forward, her impromptu claw at the ready as she dashed under it, gutting it from neck to tail in one deep cut.

It fell over, still alive but dying, and Nightshade turned to the second one. She licked her blood-soaked arm and grinned with bloodstained teeth, showing what she would do to it as well as enjoying the taste of fresh blood.

The beast backed away, recognizing her power far too late to matter.

She had no mercy as she dashed in, her arm a blur of motions too fast for the human eye to follow. When she was finished, the unnatural creature was left in chunks of gore and meat, fresh and deliciously appetizing.

She stopped herself for a moment, however, as she spotted the human from before. It was by a wall of large boulders and debris stacked on top of one another.

She couldn't understand the human yet, the human words foreign to her, but she could assess the context from scent alone.

There was a massive fear scent from beyond the rock pile, as well as a disguised fear scent coming from the human she gazed at. She heard a feminine voice wailing on the other side, and thought she understood.

_It seems his mate is on the other side of the rocks. A pity._

Though she preferred human meat over animal meat, she allowed them a few minutes to say their farewells. She might have been the closest thing to royalty for her kind, but she was not unfeeling.

Instead, she walked to the steaming meat resting against the opposite wall, teasing her with its aromatic scent. She licked her teeth, not yet in the form of Nightshade's body.

She enjoyed the first bite, as well as every bite after.

* * *

Lindow glanced at Kinaia's misshapen form as he told Sakuya to get everyone else home alive. As much as he wanted to go with them, he was blocked by a collapsed roof on one side and a deadly Aragami on the other.

He wanted to call out, to see if Kinaia was still in there somewhere, but at the same time he wanted to remain in one piece.

As he leaned against the wall, catching his breath, he pulled out the cigarette carton he always kept with him and tapped one out.

As he stared at the only cigarette that came out, an ironic smile on his face, he thought to himself, _would you look at that; last cigarette, for my last mission. Seems fitting, in a way._ He took a long drag, savoring the smoke before blowing out in a large cloud.

A roar caught his attention, and he tiredly glanced to the large hole in the wall to see a Dyaus Pita jump through. It glanced at Kinaia's infected form - Kinaia glanced back, as well - and the oddest thing happened.

The Dyaus seemed to lower its head in a low nod, almost a bow. Kinaia turned back to her meat, now ignoring the Dyaus, and it glanced at Lindow with a growl. Lindow inwardly winced. _Can't I get a break, at least for a little while?_

He stood up, his muscles tensing in protest, and held his blade into a battle stance. The Dyaus roared and leaped, Lindow engaging his shield just in time to avoid being clawed to shreds.

He was forced backward, though, and his back slammed against the wall. Lindow groaned in pain, the collision igniting dozens of nerves as he got back up and slashed its face half-heartedly.

His aching limbs prevented any strong attacks, and he knew he was only delaying the inevitable. He rolled to the side to avoid a wide swipe of its paw, engaging his shield when he got up to block the next swipe.

As the claws connected with the shield, Lindow felt his arm flare in fiery pain as one of the shield pieces came loose, skidding across the floor and coming to a stop against the wall. The orange orb on the God Arc started spewing black smoke as a large crack made its way across the surface.

"Damn . . . major Arc malfunction, huh?" Lindow gritted his teeth, pulling his now-useless blade back for one last attack as he said "Not bad at all . . ."

The Dyaus lunged forward, attempting to bite Lindow, but Lindow stabbed his blade into the Aragami's chest, black vines trailing the blade as Lindow let go of it.

His arm suddenly jumped several notches on the pain scale, and he yelled in agony, clutching his arm.

Despite the chainsaw now in its chest cavity, the Dyaus roared, ready to finish the fight. However, a small, lithe figure jumped through the hole as well.

It looked like a girl, and he was dumbfounded as she walked fearlessly in front of the beast, blocking its path to Lindow. The Dyaus growled again; it sounded softer this time, almost submissive.

It turned around and jumped through the hole it entered through, leaving Lindow to die. His arm flared again, making Lindow yell again and collapse onto the floor facefirst.

His last image was of Kinaia gazing intensely at both him and the mysterious girl, and then he saw nothing as his consciousness faded away.

* * *

A/N: I thought it might be interesting to start up a little mini-series based on my favorite OC, Kinaia. I've always loved her design, and she was nothing like this when I first created her a few years ago xD

This might actually go on for a decent amount of chapters. Think of it as a type of apology for the lack of updates; crossovers initiated from violence are surprisingly hard to write! D:

Cheers~


	2. Fighting an Unwinnable Fight

As you read, imagine the "ocean," "waves," and "abyss" as a sort of Resonance/unconsciousness type of thing.

Enjoy~

* * *

Kinaia awoke from her sleep, feeling her body moving on its own. She gazed drowsily at her surroundings, wondering why she was outside of the den.

Her mind was muddled, her limbs didn't obey her mental commands, and for some reason she felt like she wasn't alone. Something else . . . was in her mind with her.

_**I did not expect you to awaken so early, child.**_

The voice, feral and female, jogged Kinaia's memory. Slowly, memories of a church, Lindow, the Vashimu, and a shattered armlet rose through the fog of her mind . . .

"_Where . . . are we? Who . . . are you?"_ Kinaia struggled to think clearly, feeling like her head was numbed and stuffed with cotton as she mentally formed the questions.

_**Patience. All will be revealed when you are ready to respond.**_

Kinaia, feeling her mind being dragged under again, almost accepted the drowsiness until she belatedly remembered something.

A mission - an order, perhaps - to . . . kill a scorpion? She had others with her, too, she thought. Others she thinks were important to her, and the names were on the tip of her tongue . . .

_Kama. Kama Kotaku, and . . . Arashi? Yes, Arashi . . . Muran? Ramen? . . . No, Muramasa._ There weren't faces to match the names, but Kinaia felt they were important to her.

She struggled against the current pulling her back into unconsciousness, needing to know why these names were important to her.

"_Who . . . are these people?"_ she finally asked, holding herself above the black waves that lapped against her mind, dragging her into the abyss.

She heard a surprise grunt from the other voice, as well as feeling her body stop walking. The voice from before made a sound similar to a purr before speaking.

_**It appears your mind is stronger than I anticipated. Very well, I shall tell you what you wish to know. Those two names belong to friends of yours in your past life. They are alive and well, though you cannot be in their lives any longer.**_

Kinaia felt her control slipping; felt herself slip under the waves in her mind. Her thoughts faded into the dark ocean of her mind.

* * *

Some time later, Kinaia felt two, perhaps three beings near her.

She mentally opened her eyes, seeing the abyss she was trapped in all around her. Looking up, she found speckles of light, as if it were reflections of light on water.

Despite the current dragging her down, she forced her weary arms to move upward, powered by determination and curiosity. She knew these presences; she knew them from some place deep in her soul.

The current got stronger somehow, trying to keep her under the waves of unconsciousness, but she pushed onward relentlessly. She surfaced, gaining control of her body and looking at her surroundings.

She was in a destroyed town; burned corpses and charred buildings surrounded her, as well as the corpse of some odd creature mixed with a vehicle . . . _A tank, I think._

_**How dare you force me out of your consciousness?!**_ The voice bellowed, furious at her. The current pushed her back down, but she forced the current away from her mind.

"_There is someone close. Someone I remember, though I don't know who."_ Kinaia told her, gazing at the source of the strange feeling: a mountain range close by, several miles away.

The current suddenly became a whirlpool, dragging her down despite all of her resistance. The voice echoed with anger: _**If these creatures you call your friends give you so much strength, then I shall cut them away from this planet myself.**_

Kinaia couldn't fight any longer; she was dragged under the waves and lost control of her body. She felt the other presence take control again and felt it run toward the mountain range.

Even as she felt herself slipping away, she inwardly declared _"If I took control once, I can do it again. As long as I have strength, you won't harm these people."_

The last thing she heard was the voice chuckling, saying _**we shall see, human. We shall see.**_

* * *

After a short pause, Kinaia felt the presences from before very close by, mixed with another presence similar to the Aragami inside her mind.

She forced her way upward, powered by sheer willpower, and only surfaced slightly; enough to regain her senses, but not enough to gain control of her body.

It was enough to see through her sight, however; the other being inside her had killed a tiger-like creature with Kinaia's hand – now a dark furred claw of some kind – thrust deep into its neck.

She also had a vague taste of blood and meat, and was disturbed to find that it tasted delicious as well as disgusting. _Is the Aragami . . . eating the tiger? Am I tasting what she's tasting?_

Kinaia noticed that she started calling the other thing inside her a 'she' instead of 'it', something that confused her. She stopped her musings as the beast turned to the right, gazing upon three humans that Kinaia recognized.

She knew the beast was going to try and kill them, and Kinaia put as forceful of a command as she could into her words as she told the beast "_You will not touch these humans!"_

She felt the other presence recoil – knew that she hadn't noticed Kinaia until then – and it backed away while gripping its head. The whirlpool forced Kinaia down again, but she managed to put even more emphasis in her command.

The beast grunted in barely-controlled pain, telling Kinaia _**Very well, I shall not harm these humans. Cease your struggles, and I swear by the blood of Nova that I will leave them alone!**_

Kinaia sensed her honesty, as well as the concealed irritation and pain, and let herself slip under the waves once more. As long as she was able to, she would fight the other being with tooth and nail.

One of the humans she had just saved, the one in a red and black jacket, felt far more important than the others. Important enough to fight the presence controlling Kinaia.

For now, she fell into the darkness without any further struggles.

* * *

Much time had passed from then until the next time Kinaia awoke again. She felt stronger, her senses sharper - more reliant on instincts.

She rose above the black waves, surfacing without the currents attempting to pull her down.

She mentally asked "_Why am I still aware? How am I still alive?"_ Everything she was experiencing went against what she remembered being taught. Now that she had rested her mind, she could easily remember pieces of her old life.

Faces and names were unrecognizable, but words were legible; she recalled an elderly man who wore glasses giving her a lesson of some sort, about how Aragami infection causes a human to become mindless and bloodthirsty.

Nothing was told about a secondary presence sharing her mind or being able to take control of her body again.

_**I see you have rested. You are confused about where you stand, and wondering what is going on. Allow me to ease your mind and set you free from Fenrir's control.**_

_**Aragami are nothing like the mindless entities of which you have been taught. We are fabricated beings, yes, but we each have conscious control. You could call us animals, if you were ignorant of our caste system.**_

Kinaia was confused, and asked _"If the Aragami could think, why would they devour humans whenever possible? Why fight, instead of reason?"_

Another throaty laugh followed her question, as well as the female voice sarcastically asking her _**You expect to communicate and reason with another species that cannot speak? One based on survival of the fittest, no less?**_

_**You have much to learn, of both our ways and the deception forced upon you. First and foremost: the only way to live our life is to fight for the right. Nothing is free, nothing is certain. It is a harsh life, but it is a fulfilling one.**_

_**Second, everything you've known is a lie. Humans have experimented since the dawn of their existence, and deceiving is second nature to them. You are a byproduct of their 'finest success', but at the same time you are the inheritor of the savior of Aragami.**_

Kinaia questioned _"What do you mean, 'inheritor of the savior of Aragami?' Why would I be the savior of the species that I've fought since I became a God Eater?"_ If this monster expected her to betray everyone she used to know, she was in for a long and grueling fight!

However, Kinaia's mind quickly became crowded with doubt as the creature told her _**You are not human, child. Fenrir created you to be exactly what they wanted you to be: a key – one of three – to open the gate of divine providence. You and two others were to be transformed into Aragami and manipulated to create the Core of Nova.**_

The creature's voice softened in sympathy as it delivered the crushing blow: _**Everything you thought you once were . . . everything you fought to protect . . . all of it was a lie. Everything fabricated by those you held in such high esteem, all because they lusted for power. I'm sorry, Kinaia.**_

_**You are not human. You were never human. You, as well as the other two fragments, are completely Aragami, from the skin that covers you to the bottom-most depths of your soul.**_

* * *

A/N: Ouch. Doesn't that suck? *tear falls from eye*

So the final piece is revealed: The fragments of Nova are Aragami like Shio!

This is not the end of the mini-story, and more shockers to come!

Cheers~


End file.
